Challenges and Opportunities in Children and Adolescent Mental Health: Integrating Research Evidence and Clinical Practice

Dear Colleagues,

The mental health of children and adolescent is defined as a state of individual and interpersonal well-being in which individuals recognize and develop their social-emotional skills and successfully navigate the main opportunities and challenges of their environmental and sociocultural context. Developmental studies often report that young people have limited emotional regulation skills and, when faced with challenging or stressful situations, may engage in behaviors that provide instant gratification but that do not align with their long-term goals. Coping with stress in ways that offer temporary rewards can ultimately harm their long-term goals and well-being. Considering a contemporary perspective on the mental health of children and adolescent means recognizing that they experience life in a social and cultural context very different from that of previous generations.

Recent decades have been marked by significant changes and challenges for young people, including advances in information and technology, conflicts and wars, environmental and climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic, all of which may impact their mental health. These factors present a more complex framework of young people’s mental health and well-being that deserves greater research attention, bringing different perspectives, including cross-cultural comparisons and research methodologies, to shed light on the various facets of the mental health of children and adolescents, contributing to an updated conceptualization. This Special Issue invites the submission of papers on these topics, especially those that combine high academic standards with a practical focus across both community-based and clinical samples by providing evidence on how contemporary challenges and opportunities may impact the psychological well-being of adolescents.

Dr. Elisa Delvecchio
Dr. Elide Francesca de Caro
Guest Editors

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